Louie Vega
The house DJ celebrates the New York-Tokyo connection with a new mix compilation

Courtesy of King Street Sounds

Considering the fact that DJ Louie Vega of production team Masters at Work fame (Nuyorican Soul, etc.) first toured Japan 17 years ago puts some perspective on the depth of house music’s history here, and the love that Japanese have for it. So it’s no surprise to find that the latest release from the renowned New York DJ is on King Street Sounds, the label run by expat Japanese New Yorker Hisa Ishioka.

The new Mix The Vibe: Louie Vega provided the occasion for Vega’s most recent set at Yellow, which he quickly followed up with Masters At Works’ first Japan appearance in a decade. A mid-tour interview with the warm, soft-spoken Vega at his hotel found him in a festive mood. The DJ was not only celebrating Mix The Vibe, but he’d recently picked up his first Grammy, for a Curtis Mayfield remix. Vega says the King Street project was a natural one, if a long time in coming.

“I’ve known Hisa for so many years, and have a lot of respect for King Street from the early ’90s,” he explains. “He said he wanted me to do a Mix The Vibe, so I decided to do it, and it went from being one to two CDs. He has so much music to choose from, and I wanted to try something different, so I decided to do it in Ibiza.”

Vega was there with Masters at Work partner Kenny Dope and house diva Barbara Tucker. “I used a studio at Café Mambo, one of the bar restaurants on the beach that overlooks the sunset. On the second level they have a studio, and Kenny and Barbara happened to be in town so we made it into a little house party. It was done live on the spot. I picked all the songs I wanted, and I just kind of felt it. When I had an idea I would be like, ‘Barbara come in here, I’m going to play the instrumental from your tune, do some ad libs, have some fun,’ and Kenny was on the delay unit doing echoes.”

Vega’s Mix The Vibe, as much as is possible on a home stereo, brings the dancefloor’s kinetics and emotional upwelling into the living room. With contributions by house legends David Morales and Kerry Chandler as well as Japan’s Mondo Grosso among its 28 tracks, it also provides as representative a snapshot of the current state of house music as one could hope for.
In addition to a packed DJ tour schedule that recently brought him to frontier cities of dance music Dubai and Seoul, Vega’s main efforts now go into his new label. Vega Records acts as a vehicle for his Elements of Life jazz band and a number of other artists. The DJ feels that the touring and label are complementary. “I have an advantage because the house scene is DJ/producer driven. If you’re a DJ out there traveling it’s almost like you have built-in tour support. I have a lot of fans now who are heading in the direction of Vega Records, so I just focus on putting out great artists.”

Vega, who’s played every kind of gig—from in front of 30,000 people in South Africa to a private party for Dolce & Gabbana to a porno convention—says his strangest experience happened right in New York. “I broke my foot DJing,” he confides with a giggle. “There’s a device we use called an isolator that you use as an instrument to create dynamics and make the song sing more. I was doing that at my night in New York in the mid ’90s and was so into it that I twisted my foot. Everything was fine, but when I went to walk at the end of the night I couldn’t walk and had to be rushed to the hospital.” Mix The Vibe: Louie Vega is available on King Street Sounds.

Got something to say about this article? Send a letter to the editor at letters@metropolis.co.jp.

Listen to the Metropolis Podcast, the coolest guide to what goes on this week in Tokyo.

Looking for international friends? Check Japan, Inc. Friends now - it's 100% free!